“Making your famous blueberry pies Aunt Helen?” I said with some excitement in my voice trying to take some of the pressure off of my mom.
“I wanted to have them done weeks ago.” Aunt Helen muttered under her breath.
“I’ll help you out. I have a little time before Reagan gets here.” My mom smiled and mouthed a thank you in my direction. I strolled over to the sink and washed my hands then took heaping handfuls of blueberries and distributed them into the pie shells. Aunt Helen continued to boss my mom and I around as if we had never made a pie before.
The key to changing the subject with Aunt Helen was to ask her to tell a story of some sort. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to ask her about the time she won the Coopersville bake-off. Aunt Helen went on and on about how she gave the mayor’s wife a run for her money, telling me in great detail what the key to an award-winning pie was, melting a stick of butter on top of the shell.
After I placed the last pie in the oven to bake and set the timer, I decided to take a few minutes to relax before Reagan arrived. I was so excited to see my best friend. I wasn’t exactly ecstatic about the fact that I’d be third-wheeling it, but it would be nice to spend some time with people my own age. I found myself ripping through my closet trying on a bunch of different outfits for the occasion. By the time I finally picked something to my liking, I heard voices downstairs.
“It’s so good to see you! We’ve missed you so much!” I heard my mom chirp. I hurried down to be a part of the welcoming committee. There stood my beautiful best friend. Her hair dark brown, curly and long and a big smile etched across her face.
“Sutton!” She squeaked and gave me a huge hug.
“I’m so happy to see you!” I said. “Where’s Shane?”
“Oh he’s in the van getting his stuff together.” Reagan pointed at the front door and I grabbed her hand immediately walking towards it.
“I’m going to save you before Aunt Helen tells you her whole life story again.” I whispered. Reagan threw her head back and laughed; her waves bouncing up and down. We hurried out, ready to start our evening.
“Be back later!” I shouted into the house, pulling the door closed behind me.
There it was, an old white van clearly falling apart parked on the grass on the side of the cottage. It was rusted almost all over and it even had tape holding up the front bumper.
Shane bursted out of the back doors. A handle falling off as he exited. “The party has arrived!” He announced.
Shane’s blonde hair was almost as long as mine and hung down past his chest. He wore a beanie on his head, some tight black jeans and beat up vans. He was shirtless and a tank top was hanging out of his back pocket. Reagan and I laughed.
“Wow, how did that make it down here?” I questioned pointing towards the van.
“Don’t question my magic. As long as she makes it back we’re golden.” Shane smirked and put his arms around Reagan and I and we made our way down to the boardwalk.
Reagan and I slid into a booth at the Pizza Shack and barked our orders to Shane. “A large buffalo chicken pizza and two medium lemonades.” Shane pretended to jot down our orders on an imaginary notepad and bowed.
“Anything for the princesses.” Reagan rolled her eyes and I giggled.
“So update me on your life Sutton! You have to have something to tell me! You’re so lucky you get to be spending your summer here it’s beautiful! Hey speaking of beautiful, look at that hottie over there.” Reagan’s eyes led me to the cute guy from the other day and she stuck her finger up to point at him. I quickly snatched her hand down.
“Reagan don’t point!” I squealed.
I looked back over at him. There he was behind the counter in that same red tank top and grease covered apron. Shane was across the counter from him. They were laughing about something and he was pointing at the wolf tattoo on Shane’s arm.
“Earth to Sutton.” Reagan waved her hand in front of my face. “Why did you freak out and then just zone out on me! All I said was he was cute!”
“I saw that kid the other day and my mom said the same thing.”
“Damn, your mom has great taste too then.” She giggled. “I’ll have you two hooked up by the time we leave here.” She winked at me.
A few minutes later Shane came back with a pizza in one hand and a tray of drinks in the other. He walked carefully trying to balance them both and finally gently set them down on the table. “Dinner is served!” He announced.
We spent the next half hour stuffing our faces with pizza slices and slurping on lemonade. Reagan talked my ear off about how excited she was to take a year off before college. She had an extravagant plan that included her and Shane traveling the world in his beat up van. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I thought they’d be lucky to make it home from here. When we were finished eating we strolled along the boardwalk enjoying the night.
“Hey a beer pong game are you kidding me? I kill it at beer pong.” Shane pulled a crinked $5 out of his pocket and slapped it into the hand of the kid behind the counter.
After lots
